NJ’s William Paterson University lost professor’s 380-million-year-old fossils — which ended up in a Tenn. dump, lawsuit claims
He has an ancient bone to pick.
A professor is suing a New Jersey university after it allegedly caused his collection of 380-million-year-old fossils to end up in a Nashville landfill, ruining more than 18 years of work.
Martin Becker, a professor of environment science and a paleontologist at William Paterson University in Wayne, accused the school of negligence over failing to pay outstanding fees to UPS, which was supposed to transport about 200 of his fossils from the campus to Florida, NBC News reports.
Instead, the error caused Becker’s life work to be tossed out at a Tennessee dump, upending the “hundreds upon hundreds of hours” the paleontologist spent collecting rare ancient fossils from the Devonian period of the Paleozoic Era on New Jersey’s High Mountain.
“Plaintiff’s assemblage of the fossils is the most unique and comprehensive collection of marine fossils ever reported in Northern New Jersey,” the lawsuit states.
“The fossil assemblage was an integral part of plaintiff’s life and all aspects of his career, and was a critical factor in plaintiff’s good name and stupendous reputation at William Paterson and the fields of paleontology and geology,” it added.
Becker’s nightmare began on June 18, 2024, when he packed his 200-fossile collection inside 19 separate boxes to be sent off from the university’s mailroom to a colleague in Florida for a collaborative project.
The packages were handed off to mailroom supervisor Raymond Boone, who was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, with UPS picking up the boxes that same day, according to the lawsuit.
Boone allegedly told Becker he would receive tracking and insurance information from UPS, but Becker says he never received the documents.
When the professor learned that the fossils never arrived in Florida, he made multiple calls to the mailroom and finally received tracking information on Aug. 20, according to the suit.
It allegedly showed that the packages were still in New Jersey, and Becker said he repeatedly contacted Boone to resolve whatever issue was stalling the delivery.
By Sept. 20, Boon told Becker the fossils might have been held up by the UPS fraud department, according to the lawsuit.
Becker went on to contact UPS directly 10 days later, learning that his packages were intercepted because the university’s account had been canceled over its failure to pay outstanding invoices, the lawsuit states.
The school’s account had already been canceled on April 24, with Boone knowing about the lapse by July 8 despite telling Becker at the time that he was “working on the issue,” according to the lawsuit.
Becker is accusing the school and Boone of negligence and breaching their duty of care over his fossils for failing to pay the UPS invoices and for shipping his packages before the issue was resolved.
Becker also claims Boone was unfit for his job at the mailroom and alleges William Paterson was negligent in hiring him.
Becker is seeking unspecified damages for his lost collection, as well as medical expenses for the distress the whole ordeal has caused him, according to the suit.
Boone and William Paterson University did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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